


If I must go, then take me with you

by Adder24



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Finch - Freeform, Harold Finch - Freeform, John Reese - Freeform, M/M, Reaper - Freeform, Reaper Reese, Reese - Freeform, rinch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 22:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13421346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adder24/pseuds/Adder24
Summary: Harold had lived a good life and enjoyed his waning years with Grace but his time was coming to an end and there was only one person on his mind that he hoped to see one more time. Would fate be kind and grant that wish for him?





	If I must go, then take me with you

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Rinch fic everyone...and it's a sad one shotter. I am so so sorry....

He lived a good life. He saved the lives of many, built a machine to ensure the safety of many innocent lives across the world, married the love of his life and lived out the rest of his days in Florence Italy, painting and drawing with his wife, learning her skill and enjoying every waking minute of the life he had but his time on this earth was coming to an end, age was starting to catch up with him, he was becoming frail and weak day by day and the basic things such as walking was becoming tremendously difficult. He knew it wouldn't be long till he and the reaper would finally meet and discuss the life he lived. 

Like everyone he had regrets. He regretted small mistakes he made, he regretted not being able to have children with his wife or the times he lashed out at his father before he knew what was wrong with him, the biggest regret though, was the lives caught in the war between his machine and Samaritan, the people who died unnecessarily while he fought to save them and the man he loved and adored, who sacrificed his own life to ensure he continued to live.  
Reese. 

Not a day went by without him thinking about Reese, wondering what things they would have done if he survived. Would they come to Italy and live out their days like he and Grace? Would they have adopted children and given them the best start in life? Would they have travelled the world together? Questions that went unanswered, questions that broke his heart over and over again as the what if’s and maybes played out like a cruel dream. He would do anything to spend one last moment with him before he left the land of the living, one more chance to hold him, to feel his warmth, take in his scent and hear his voice one more time but Reese was long gone.  
Grace remained by his side as the clock ticked down his final moments, holding his hand and speaking to him softly, reminding him of the happier times they shared and all they accomplished. She had let him go once before but he knew losing him a second time would break her. He gently squeezed her hand and turned to face her slowly.

“It will be okay” He whispered before rolling back onto his back to stare up at the ceiling “He will look after me”  
“Who will Harold?” She asked.

He just smiled and closed his eyes as his grip relaxed around her hand, the machines around him flatlining as the doctors came in to asses him and give a time of death. His body had shut down but his soul...his soul was wide awake, standing across from the bed watching it all unfold before him . He felt cold and scared, the reaper was coming for him and whatever happens, whatever is said and taken into account, the judgment will be final. He took a deep breath and adjusted himself.

“Harold...Finch?” Came a familiar raspy voice.

Harold’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be. He quickly turned on his heels and sure enough there he stood, in the doorway, Long black coat with a red lining, Black shirt and black jeans, holding an elegantly crafted Scythe. It was black with bear symbology carved into the wooden snath while a metal bear paw held the blade in place. There was a fingerprint on the blade that glowed an orange hue, Harold look down at his hands and noticed his thumbs were also glowing the same Orange hue.

“That’s my thumbprint…” he said quietly  
“It’s better than a name on a bit of paper” Reese Replied  
“....Why didn’t you recognise it?” Harold asked  
“Should I have?”  
“....Yes….we were partners you and I, we saved countless lives together, we lived together...we were lovers”  
Reese blinked slowly and tilted his head to one side  
“I’m sorry….but I don’t remember you.” He said flatly  
Those words broke Harold’s heart, all those years they spent together, all the stories they told, memories they created and moments they shared, gone as if they were erased from his memory.  
“I woke up laying in the rubble of a demolished building,wearing a ripped suit and holding this scythe, I didn’t know my name or how I got there….but there was this guy, about my height, with blonde hair and a rich english accent, tell me everything I needed to know. This is my job now, I’m a reaper”  
“But there must be something….surely...anything” Harold begged  
But Reese shook his head  
“A Reaper's life that he or she once lived, is erased to ensure all souls are judged correctly and fairly. We may have shared a life together but it’s not the life I live now”  
“Do you have a name?” Harold asked  
“John Orson. It's what he gave me”  
“Who?”  
“Well aren't we full of questions?”  
“I'm dead and my soul is about to be judged, so yes I have a lot of questions before you do whatever it is you do”  
“Well we don't have alot of time Harold”  
“Then at least answer me one more question”

Reese sighed, rubbed his jaw and looked away from Harold, the tell tale signs of frustration that Harold remembered, whenever he was frustrated he looked away so that Harold wouldn't see it but he knew. At the time it would cause Harold to roll his eyes or address him but right now it made him smile as those once happy memories came flooding back. 

“One question and then I have to collect your soul. Do you understand?” Reese asked  
“Completely” Harold replied  
“Then ask away”  
“How do you….Judge a soul exactly?”  
“You place your thumb on the glowing thumbprint on the blade and just like that, I am connected to you and I get to see all your accomplishments, regrets and memories play out. Did you know your brain can survive 6 minutes after death?”  
“I did”  
“Which is why I say...we don’t have alot of time”  
“Then we best get on with it. I am ready my reaper friend”  
“It’s Orson to you”

Harold smiled and nodded his head before walking over to the scythe, swallowing hard when he saw the large blade glinting eerily in the darkness. It was pristine, clear, almost mirror like with the way the metal was polished and it was sharp, razor sharp. It was little wonder why people feared death when the last thing they would ever see would be the blade that takes them to their final resting place but at least Death himself wasn’t as scary, at least he wasn’t a giant skeleton in black rags with glowing red eyes, at least he was in Harold’s view, an old friend come to take him away. Yet Harold didn’t want to leave him, not again, he didn’t want him to wander this world alone, without someone by his side teaching him right from wrong. Even in the afterlife, Reese still needed him.  
He took a deep breath and looked at Reese, standing there, gripping the Scythe tightly and waiting patiently for Harold to pass over. He still had the stoic coldness about him, that cold hearted exterior that not alot of people got passed, it was probably why he was chosen to become a reaper because he didn’t showcase his emotions so well but Harold could see beyond that, he could still see his vulnerabilities as well as his tenderness and loving heart, it was all still there for him to see. He looked at the blade briefly and then back at Reese, smiling at him sweetly as he put his arms behind his back.

“I’d just like to say Thank you” Harold said softly  
“For what?”  
“Showing me the way”

Reese blinked as Harold quickly reached up pressed his glowing thumbs on Reese’s temples, he yelled out in pain as he went to fight him off but the process had already started, they were engulfed in darkness momentarily before Harold’s memories started to filter through, popping up all around them, appearing as if they were on monitors, various sized monitors, the bigger they were the more important they were but instead of playing out key stages of his life, they showed the times they shared, from the moment they first met to the end, when Reese sacrificed himself to save Harold. These were the memories he wanted his reaper to see, the ones that he felt mattered, not the ones carefully selected by some ethereal being above all others, no these memories were raw and more meaningful and showed everything they went through together, the good and the bad. Harold laughed happily as he watched every single one of them, tears of happiness rolling down his cheeks while Reese watched with his mouth wide open, each one seemingly awakening the memories that were supposedly erased or rather locked away in the darkest depths of his mind. He carefully placed his hands over Harolds and looked at him dumbfounded.

“....This was us?” He asked softly  
“Yes….This was us Mr Reese...or would you prefer Mr Orson now?”  
“.....Mr Reese is fine”

Harold smiled as he stood up on his tiptoes and kissed him softly on the lips, Reese returning the kiss as a bright white light cascaded over them for a mere few seconds before plunging them back into darkness once more.

As Reese opened his eyes, he found he was back in the room, alone with only Harolds now empty vessel that had been covered with a blanket, Grace by his side, gently stroking his hair as she said her goodbyes. He wanted to say something, tell her that he passed peacefully and was happy but she wouldn’t be able to hear him, let alone see him, that was down to some unexplainable force that is put into place to protect the reapers from being seen, he had to trust her to know he was happy. He smiled a little, happy to have seen the small glimpse of the life he once lived, knowing he was important to someone, relevant. He looked at his blade and noted a new fingerprint was now placed upon the blade, the orange glow calling him to his next job but even though this was his job and his life now, he felt a pang of sadness, knowing this was print was not Harold and knowing they would never encounter one another again.  
He sighed heavily and hung his head before turning round to face the door. 

“We have a new number Mr Reese”

He stopped dead in his tracks. There in front of him stood Harold, exactly the same as the day they first met. Wearing his iconic black rimmed glasses, a black three piece suit with a maroon tie and a thin pinstripe white shirt, his dark hair spiked up in the same way it always was. Reese, although happy was a bit taken aback, Harold’s soul should have been absorbed by the scythe and cast off to his final destination….but it wasn’t the case with Harold, he was still here, standing right in front of him.

“How...how are you still here?” He asked  
Harold shrugged his shoulders and smiled  
“I don’t know John but I’m starting to like the afterlife”  
“Why?”  
“Because I can walk!” He replied excitedly before showing him by marching around the room, there was no limp, there was no bad posture either, he was in essence….normal again “Isn’t it fantastic?”  
“Yeah...but...weird” Reese replied  
“Why weird?”  
“....Kinda liked the limp”

Harold smirked and gently patted him on the shoulder

“I’ll put it on just for you, Now we got another number to collect, so we better get going”  
“Who put you in charge?” Reese asked jokingly  
“Oh...the man upstairs, he said you need assistance and that we make quite the team”  
“Can’t argue with that. Shall we?” Reese asked as he held out his hand

Harold smiled and grabbed it, holding his hand tightly.

“Let’s”

Both men walked out of the room hand in hand in deep conversation about their plans and the things to be wary of in the afterlife, happy they had found each other once again, happy to be a team once more and as they walked down the corridor, towards their next soul, Harold stopped for a moment, Looked at Reese and then carried on, with the limp he promised.

 

Even death couldn’t separate them.


End file.
